Glos. poultry farmer takes centre stage in new recipe book

Sophie has contributed to the Countryside Kitchen: Farm, Food, Fork book that contains 77 recipes with her chicken, bacon and mushroom pie dish.

Sophie helps to run Alexander and Angell (Farms) Ltd, nestled at the bottom of the Cotswold Escarpment, which was taken over by the Hope family in the 1970s and is now in its third generation.

Keeping British agriculture alive

“We have 81,000 broiler breeders on 3 farms. Broiler breeders are the parent stock of the meat breed you buy, so we have both pullets and cockerels on the farm, producing fertile hatching eggs, delivering 12 million broilers a year.

“British agriculture is so important and needs to be kept alive. I’m really interested in teaching others about agriculture and showing people what we can do. I like participating in Open Farm Sunday – we have a public viewing room on one of our poultry farms,” she added.

Reconnecting the public with British farmers

Cotswold farmer and Countryfile presenter Adam Henson also features in the book, delivering a foreword in which he urges the public to reconnect with the seasons and acknowledge the hard-work and dedication of British farmers.

“Everyone is touched by this innovative sector, from the milk in their tea to the ingredients for their favourite dish, but people have been disconnected with how their food is produced and the best time to buy it in season. That is what the recipe book is all about.”

The book is available via the NFU Countryside website at www.countrysideonline.co.uk priced £15.95 plus package and posting.